Melinda (Min) McDonald is an experienced communications specialist, researcher, and operational firefighter with Fire & Rescue NSW and has been successful in obtaining a Churchill Fellowship.
Having transitioned from a corporate role, Melinda has dedicated the second phase of her career to firefighting - combining her expertise in communications and her passion for community safety to make a lasting impact. Melinda initiated and led the "Reducing risk and increasing community resilience in culturally and linguistically diverse communities through culturally appropriate communication” project with UTS.
Min’s focus is on community risk reduction and organisational culture in the Australian fire services. She emphasises the importance of prevention as the first line of defence in reducing fire-related injuries and fatalities and highlights the need to foster values-based behaviour and positive organisational culture to achieve sustainable outcomes.
29.1% of Australians were born overseas and 22% use a language other than English at home. Language barriers, cultural incompatibility of concepts, and lack of access to information can place culturally diverse community members at disproportionate risk to fire and other emergencies. Exploring best practice co-designed and community-led risk reduction theories and programs, and applying learnings from their success in Australia will provide for more effective, culturally competent collaboration with diverse communities as trusted partners in emergency prevention and education. The knowledge will be shared with emergency agencies to reduce risk and support more equitable outcomes for all Australians.
We are excited to hear about her research trip and wish her safe travels.
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